The five-year deal was announced when representatives from the Gillespie Investment Group – who control ARP – arrived by helicopter.

Gillespie Investment Group director Scott Gillespie, 39, said at the time: “We are delighted to give this backing to Airdrie United as part of our involvement with the Airdrie Regeneration Programme. Hopefully this investment can assist in their climb up the tables.”

For the 2008-09 season, the company donated the spot on the front of the players’ shirts to St Andrew’s Hospice.

But the high-profile cash pledge came on the brink of the Gillespies’ spectacular financial collapse.

The brothers’ late dad Jim built a fortune from opencast mining.

But a family feud led to a series of costly court clashes between his four sons, with three now bankrupt.